TNT’s Heat/Celtics NBA opening night game is most-watched regular season game ever on Cable; 7.4M viewers

Tipping off one of the most anticipated seasons in the league’s history, TNT’s exclusive doubleheader coverage of opening night of the 2010-11 NBA season delivered record-setting ratings and audience for the network, averaging a 3.5 US rating, 5,493,000 total viewers and 4,025,000 households. The opening game, featuring the Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics, earned a 4.6 US rating and delivered 7,433,000 total viewers and 5,339,000 households, making it the most watched regular season NBA game on cable of all-time (topping the Chicago Bulls vs. LA Lakers on Feb. 2, 1996). Game two of the doubleheader, featuring the Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m. (ET) delivered a 2.4 US rating, 3,719,000 total viewers and 2,823,000 households, making the doubleheader the most watched NBA Opening Night doubleheader in Turner’s 27 years of tipping off the season.

The full press release follows after the jump.

TNT Has Record Setting Ratings for NBA Season Opener

Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics is Most Watched Regular Season Game Ever on Cable

Tipping off one of the most anticipated seasons in the league’s history, TNT’s exclusive doubleheader coverage of opening night of the 2010-11 NBA season delivered record-setting ratings and audience for the network, averaging a 3.5 US rating, 5,493,000 total viewers and 4,025,000 households. The opening game, featuring the Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics, earned a 4.6 US rating and delivered 7,433,000 total viewers and 5,339,000 households, making it the most watched regular season NBA game on cable of all-time (topping the Chicago Bulls vs. LA Lakers on Feb. 2, 1996). Game two of the doubleheader, featuring the Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m. (ET) delivered a 2.4 US rating, 3,719,000 total viewers and 2,823,000 households, making the doubleheader the most watched NBA Opening Night doubleheader in Turner’s 27 years of tipping off the season.

Other highlights from TNT’s exclusive doubleheader include:

TNT’s opening night doubleheader saw double digit growth in ratings, total viewers, households and all key demos over last year’s record setting exclusive openers (Celtics/Cavaliers, followed by LA Clippers/LA Lakers).

TNT’s exclusive coverage of the NBA continues on Thursday, Oct. 28, with a doubleheader featuring the debut of the league’s 2010 overall #1 draft pick John Wall and the Washington Wizards visiting four-time All-Star Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic (8 p.m. ET), followed by a showcase of two of the league’s best point guards as Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns take on Deron Williams and the Utah Jazz (10:30 p.m. ET).

TNT will broadcast 52 regular season games this season and will serve as the exclusive home to NBA All-Star Saturday Night and the 2011 NBA All-Star Game from Los Angeles, as well as over 40 NBA playoff games and the Eastern Conference Finals.

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised and online sports programming. With events airing on TBS, TNT and truTV, Turner Sports’ line-up includes NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, professional golf, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com. Turner Sports’ diverse portfolio also offers a collection of mobile Web sites and apps featuring NBA, NASCAR and professional golf content, along with Turner Sports’ first branded consumer product, SportsNOW. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAUGE.com and WNBA.com.

TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama. Available in 99.6 million households, the network is home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Men of a Certain Age, with Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott; the upcoming Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee; Southland, from Emmy�-winning producer John Wells (ER); and Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards�; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament will appear on TNT beginning in 2011. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Source: Based on Nielsen Media Research Live + Same Day data stream. TNT Fast National data for the night of 10-26-10, compared to 2009-10 Opening Night on TNT. Historical live data from 09-27-93 to 12-25-2005, Live + Same data from 12-26-2005 to 10-26-10. Local metered market ratings based on Arianna data (10-26-10).